Month: February 2016

Here’s a guest post from the Instructional Technologist for the College of Business Administration, Jeff Schwartz. He’s recapping the first LMU Instructional Technology Showcase, which he recently hosted for CBA faculty and staff in Hilton. Take it away, Jeff!

On Tuesday, February 16th, several faculty and staff gathered together in Hilton 300 for the first College of Business Administration Technology Showcase. The evening was well-attended and participants experienced a thought-provoking technological “Show and Tell” while enjoying assorted appetizers and libations.

The College of Business Administration Technology Showcase was a unique event here at Loyola Marymount University. Traditionally, technology based workshops hosted by Information Technology Services are often more general in nature, designed to support faculty and staff campus wide. This event, however, was orchestrated specifically to address the needs and interests of a singular college, which required some more nuanced planning and design.

When I visit with faculty about the dynamics of instruction in higher education, I am frequently reminded of how valuable their time truly is. Between teaching classes, grading papers, holding office hours, and developing lessons, tests, and student activities, there is often little time left in the work week for professional development and the acquisition of new technological skills. While presenting some new software tools and platforms during our showcase was undoubtedly important, I also wanted to be sure that each of the tools that I shared didn’t come with a learning curve that would prohibit someone from diving right in and exploring. After a great deal of consideration and a thoughtful needs assessment, I selected the following topics and tools as they are all free (to LMU faculty and staff), easy to learn, and immediately available to everyone at our University:

In addition to reflecting upon the tools and teaching techniques demonstrated by many of the CBA faculty that I support, I also had the opportunity to meet individually with each of the respective Associate Deans and Program Directors here in our college (Renee Florsheim, Associate Dean of Undergraduate Studies; Bob Pettit, Associate Dean and Director of the MBA Program; Richard Stafford, Director of the EMBA Program). These conversations helped to further align the technology showcase with tools and topics that would immediately benefit the faculty, staff, and ultimately the students that make up our greater business school learning community. Many faculty and staff members in the College of Business Administration left the event inspired and excited, and I look forward to working with my colleagues as they integrate these new platforms into their courses and workflow.

Missed the technology showcase? Watch the presentation

To view the slideshow from the CBA Technology Showcase (built using Microsoft Sway, a free and cloud-based presentation tool that was shared at the event) and to access several video and web links featuring these assorted tools, see below.

This event was the first of its kind this year, but the Instructional Technology team intends to host additional college-specific technology events in the months to come. If you are interested in learning more about any of the tools or teaching techniques that appear in the CBA Technology Showcase slideshow, please feel free to contact your Instructional Technologist or visit the Faculty Innovation Center (level three of the library) between 10am-5pm Monday through Friday.